a noble became a nobleman; the child of a peasant remained a peasant through life. In modern economic society the individual’s own efforts, exerted through his freedom to contract with others for his own advantage, count far more heavily in determining his ultimate station in life. [Sidenote: Why the institution of private property is maintained.] =Private Property.=—Freedom of contract would prove a poor incentive to progress were it not accompanied by a provision whereby industrious men can enjoy the fruits of their labor and thrift. Hence we guarantee to every man not only the right to earn but the right to save, for future enjoyment, a portion of his earnings. These savings become his property and within certain limits he may use them as he pleases. He may utilize his savings during his own lifetime or leave them to his children when he dies. Savings may take the form of private property in land and buildings, or movable goods, or such investments as bonds, stocks, mortgages, and bank deposits. Property in land and buildings is commonly known as _real_ property or real estate. All other forms of property are called _personal_ property. Sometimes we distinguish between two kinds of personal property, _tangible_, which includes all goods and chattels, and _intangible_, which comprises stocks, bonds, mortgages, notes, deposits, and other obligations. The institution of private property is the basis of our whole economic system. No nation has ever enjoyed industrial prosperity for any length of time without recognizing the right of private property. Destroy this right and you take away what now constitutes the chief incentive to labor, saving, and industrial efficiency. Under a socialistic system, which would either abolish or largely curtail this right of private property, it is argued that other incentives would take the place of the motive now furnished by private property and that men would keep on working and organizing even if private property were entirely abolished; but this is a large question and its discussion must be relegated to a later chapter. [Sidenote: The right of private property is subject to restrictions.]